AK Party’s election plans

The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has been discussing moving up the local elections from 2014 to next year. This is no coincidence or a random topic of discussion; this is a strategic plan of the AK Party.

There are two elections in 2014: local and presidential elections, with the general elections in 2015. So the AK Party aims to have the local elections in 2013 to test the party’s strategies and as a preliminary trial for the elections in 2014 and 2015. Another reason for rescheduling is to have the local elections at a time when the construction of huge projects such as İstanbul’s Marmaray rail tube tunnel, the Kadıköy-Kartal subway line, the Ankara metro line between the city’s Sincan and Kayaş districts, and the Egeray railway line, which runs from Aliağa to Cumaovası in İzmir come to an end. It is a very strong probability that opposition parties will lose many local offices they hold to the AK Party in 2013.